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Saturday, March 18, 2006

Image of a male ivory-billed woodpecker specimen from The Field Museum in Chicago.

Well, the code of polite silence about the ivory-billed woodpecker has finally broken among some of North America's leading birding experts. Both David Sibley and Kenn Kaufman have spoken out this past week concerning their doubts about bird ID'd as an ivorybill in the famous/infamous accidental video captured by David Luneau.

The four seconds of Luneau's digital video footage have been analyzed, scrutinized, criticized, and lionized by everyone interested in the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker. It was used by the Cornell Lab/Nature Conservancy folks as proof positive of the species' existence. Now David Sibley and a handful of colleagues, in an article in the journal Science, are flatly declaring that the same video actually shows a pileated woodpecker. And that the original discoverers were, to put it kindly, mistaken in their identification. See links below.

Sibley, Kaufman, Jackson, and others are asking the right, hard questions. But there is a rumbling bit of backlash against them, almost like they are somehow being unpatriotic. (Where have we heard that before?)

There are so many things at stake here--including millions of dollars in conservation funding, personal and professional glory, and the potential for the greatest conservation success story of all time. But emotions are running so high that critical, logical thinking may itself become extinct. The birding community is slowly dividing into camps: The True Believers, The Really-Want-to Believers, The Mostly Dubious, and The Non-believers. Where do you stand?

I must admit that I started out in the first category, but have drifted, over time, into the Dubious category, mostly because no other confirmation of the bird's/birds' existence has come to light. Thousands of hours have been spent in The Big Woods of Arkansas by woodpecker experts, master woodspeople, ornithologists, top-notch avid birders, and we have not much to show for it. Certainly if there was any kind of definitive proof (a still photo, better video footage), I believe the Cornell/TNC gang would have made this public immediately. It is the lack of any such proof, combined with the intensely controlled search process, limited access to the area, and "ownership" of the species has placed the entire ivorybill "scene" in an increasingly harsh light.

This is going to be a very interesting story to follow in the days and months to come. I have a feeling that we may only be seeing the beginning of the debate. I just hope that all the positive press that bird watching has gotten during the past year is not turned into "Check out the crazy birders!" coverage because we are too busy scratching each other's eyes out.

There's no doubt we ALL want the species to still be extant. There's also no doubt that we need better proof of its continued existence. Let's hope that proof comes soon...

Face: Is that your photo? I'd be happy to use it, but prefer to have permisssion.

Anselm: I'd love to say this fishcrow site is showing definite proof, but it makes the Luneau video look like a high-definition National Geographic special. He's hitting some interesting spots, but the photos leave a lot to be desired.

The biggest problem I worry about is a possible backlash against conservation in general. The public has a short attention span and will eventually forget about the ivory bill, however, special interest groups could use the perceived discord and confusion to undermine other conservation efforts.

Can’t you just hear those who want access to the trees, minerals and water in wild areas that are currently protected or are being considered for protection to save a species What about developers?

About Bill

Bill of the Birds

Bill Thompson III is the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest by day. He's also a keen birder, the author of many books, a dad, a field trip leader, an ecotourism consultant, a guitar player, the host of the "This Birding Life" podcast, a regular speaker/performer on the birding festival circuit, a gentleman farmer, and a fungi to be around. His North American life list is somewhere between 673 and 675. His favorite bird is the red-headed woodpecker. His "spark bird" was a snowy owl. He has watched birds in 25 countries and 44 states. But his favorite place to watch birds is on the 80-acre farm he shares with his wife, artist/writer Julie Zickefoose. Some kind person once called Bill "The Pied Piper of Birding" and he has been trying to live up to that moniker ever since.